Recent political signs in the Coachella Valley, statewide offer hope

Desert Hot Springs is one of 40 cities nationwide that a national group is targeting for increased Latino participation in local elections. Experts say Latinos could make a big difference in local races. (August 20, 2015)
Kia Farhang/The Desert Sun

Al Franco notes a couple of signs that go against the cynical view that democracy in America is on the ropes.(Photo: File photo)

A couple of recent political developments have me feeling a bit more hopeful.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced recently that a push to pre-register 16- and 17-year-olds so they can start voting once they turn 18 has reached the 100,000 mark. The effort was launched in September 2016 in a bid to get more people involved in their democracy at a young age.

Meanwhile, voters in Rancho Mirage on April 10 elected three members of their City Council. That the incumbents easily won new terms is not what I’m noting here, (though, my congratulations to Council Members Dana Hobart, Iris Smotrich and Charles Townsend, as well as a hat tip to challengers Michael Harrington, Robert Mueller and Kate Spates for the robust campaign we witnessed).

What caught my eye is that, according to the Riverside County Registrar’s Office, nearly 53 percent of the city’s 9,908 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election. That’s a great turnout, especially considering it was a single-item ballot (just City Council). By comparison, statewide turnout for the June 2014 primary was a feeble 25 percent.

Seen together, these unrelated items give me hope that despite all the division and rancor in American politics today, there is still enthusiasm for the process that is our democracy.

As far as the next generation of voters, Padilla’s office reported that the last 10,000 of the pre-registrations surged in during the weeks after the horrific shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 dead. Student walkouts and nationally coordinated rallies sparked by the movement founded by student survivors of that attack have seen millions take to the streets, including in Palm Springs.

Stoneman High students like David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez have been at the public forefront of the #NeverAgain group. Most of their anger has been directed at the National Rifle Association and GOP members of Congress, who the students argue have worked to stifle gun regulations that could prevent massacres. Officially, the students say their #NeverAgain movement isn’t about Republicans vs. Democrats, but instead spurring Congress to act on an agenda to cut gun violence. Still, if you’ve been paying any attention one party seems to be getting most of the punishment (hint: Its initials rhyme with “woe is me.”)

Casual observers, therefore, shouldn’t be fazed if somehow they got the message that, at least unofficially, Democrats see themselves as on the “winning side” with this youth movement.

And that's where I see an interesting facet of the pre-registration numbers. To me, it seems a no-brainer that the Democratic Party would get the lion’s share of these young prospective voters — especially since this is “deep blue” California and especially if peer-led #NeverAgain is a sign of a larger common philosophy among the young.

As of April 2, however, of the total 100,111 pre-registrations, 38,363 registered as Democrat; 10,082 registered Republican; and, here it comes … 43,148 registered No Party Preference (NPP).

That’s “pure independent” in the lead there, folks.

Now, I wish I could say exactly what that means. And, yes, there’s plenty of nuance in the numbers, too.

When it comes to the major parties, Democrats still drew more than 1 in 3 of these would-be voters to their ranks. And, at first glance at least, these first 100,000 pre-registrations collectively don’t bode well at all for the already-ailing GOP, which can claim just 1 in 4 current registered voters statewide.

Closer to home, Riverside County saw a similar distribution of more NPP compared to either Democrat or GOP pre-registrations.

The dominance of NPP selection is a bit unique to this preregistration group. As a whole, Democrat numbers are dominant in Riverside County as well as statewide, though NPP registration has been growing rapidly in recent cycles and currently has climbed to about even with the GOP’s state total.

The fact that even more of these new signups have refused to align with either major party — indeed, haven’t aligned with any party at all — seems to signal something new is brewing.

I’d like to think this means our young people are not only politically energized, which would be a great thing for our society moving forward, but they’re more likely to think for themselves about the issues – leaving their options open, as it were. According to kidsdata.org, California’s current child population covering ages 14 to 17 is 2.04 million. That’s a lot of voters potentially coming online here in the near future.

As I consider this sign from the young in tandem with the consistently high election participation in Rancho Mirage, it seems that there are plenty of people at both ends of the age spectrum (Rancho Mirage’s median age is 63-plus years) who are eager to take part and be heard.

As a nation, we certainly have room for improvement in this regard, as evidenced by a May 2017 Pew Research Center report on voter turnout that placed the U.S. at 28th among the 35 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development nations. Nothing to brag about there.

Maybe this is just a blip. I’d like to think, however, that similar signs indicating increased buy-in will help keep our elected leaders honest by demonstrating that they can’t take any parts of the electorate for granted.

Imagine that; having to run a race by promoting policies that give people what they believe is in their best interests.